Homemade organic raw apple cider vinegar

Like smoothies, lemonades and few pantry staples, turns out the best apple cider vinegar is homemade! This amber liquid gold is so tasty that every now and then I find myself having a tablespoon of it, on its own. Yeah, a tablespoon of vinegar, go figure.

I can’t say that I was not happy with my previous ACV. It was raw, unfiltered and quite tasty, in a mouth puckering sort of way. Available just across the street and at a relatively affordable price. You’d think I can’t ask more from a vinegar. Yet here I am telling you that there is BETTER. Much much better. And if you were using a refined, distilled, heated, filtered apple cider vinegar, brace yourself for some pretty amazing new flavours!

Best news that comes with this recipe? Kitchen skills play absolutely no part. It’s a fool proof waiting game that anyone can play.

Making your own ACV is a dead easy affair to tackle and hilariously inexpensive to boot. It might just be the easiest recipe ever shared on TalesofaKitchen. And the most useful at a world wide level – no matter the season, no matter the country or the continent, I know there must be some cheap, organic, local apples you can get your hands on. And a knife, surely you have one you can dust off. And then just empty a big ol’ jar, clean it really well and brace yourself with some patience. These babies need to ferment for quite a while to give us a whole lotta bacterial goodness.

The recipe I used calls for whole apples. Anything you can find, really. But you’d be happy to know you can make ACV using just scraps like the cores and peels. Yep, you can eat your apple and ferment it too. So if there’s any apple pies baking in your near future, make sure you keep those scraps and put them to good use.

Also good to know is that the fermentation process depends on season – less during summer, bit longer during colder months. You will know your vinegar is ready when you will notice a dark, cloudy bacterial foam – this is called the Mother and can easily be noticed when holding the vinegar to light. This is bacteria we love and cherish! Because it’s full of enzymes and minerals that over-processed vinegars do not have.

Homemade organic raw apple cider vinegar

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 2-3 months

Ingredients

3 small apples (core and peel included, no stem)

3 tsp raw sugar (I used muscavado)

filtered water to cover – I used about 800ml, you might need to use more or less depending on what jar/container you use, it’s shape and how the chopped apples sit in it; the most important thing is to add just enough water to cover the apples and ensure they are submerged.

Instructions

Wash and chop your apples into medium sized pieces (or use the peels and cores of 6-7 small apples after making a pie). Place them in a clean, rinsed and sterilized wide mouth jar.

Mix the sugar with 1 cup of water and pour on top of the apples.

Add more water if needed to cover the apples.

Cover the jar with a paper towel or a cheesecloth and secure it with a band. This keeps nasties away while letting the liquid breathe.

Place the jar in a warm, dark place for 2-3 weeks – I just kept it in my pantry.

Strain out the liquid and discard the apple pieces.

Return the liquid to the same jar and cover it again (same paper or cheesecloth).

Return the jar to the same warm, dark place and leave it do its thing for roughly 4 to 6 weeks, stirring with a plastic or wooden spoon every few days or so. I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t that organised with my stirring (oftentimes forgot), but my vinegar still loved me.

After the first 4 weeks, you can begin to also taste your vinegar and once it reaches an acidity you like, you can actually transfer it to a bottle with a lid and begin using it.

*LATER UPDATE *

When you clean and sterilize your jar, please make sure you rinse the jar well to avoid having residue soaps or anything. This can spoil your brew.

If your apples tend to float to the surface in the initial few days and you are not using a special fermentation jar with an insert to keep foods below water level, you can improvise as in the photo above. I tend to ferment in a big glass jug these days as it’s the only large recipient with a wide enough mouth that I own. I have a jar that is roughly the size of the jug’s mouth and I use that to keep the apples submerged. The jar needs to be sterilized prior to use and if it has small indentations on the bottom that you cannot thoroughly clean (as mine did), I prefer to pop it into a bpa free plastic zip lock bag. I then cover the entire set up with cheesecloth and secure it with a band. You can also use a small plate if it fits or a cup – anything you can thoroughly clean and sterilize that will keep the apples submerged.

Organic vs non -organic. If using organic apples, you can use the whole lot – core, peel, everything, as long as there’s no rotten bits. If using conventional apples, I would discard the peel as that retains a lot of pesticides.

Bubbles mark the start of the fermentation process.

The white scum that forms on top of your ferment is good. It is a natural outcome of the fermentation and it is what forms the mother in few weeks time.

Any other scum of any other color (green, blue, grey, black) is not good. I would personally discard it and feed the apples to my compost. When bad mold is on any type of food, it’s good to know that it is not located only where you can see it with the naked eye. It has the ‘magical’ power of spreading very well and fast and infesting it all. Safe is to discard, learn from your mistakes and try again with a new batch. If you are a beginner, start with a very small batch so not to be sorry if something goes wrong.

I use a stainless steel sieve to strain the apples and it is in contact with the ferment for very brief time. I did not find it affects the fermentation process at all. However, for the stirring that we need to do more often, I would recommend a plastic, wooden or ceramic spoon.

Types of sugar. If you want to start a mother from scratch, meaning you’re making this recipe for example, best to use a raw sugar. There were questions about honey – it works, but not as well I find – process is slower and the end vinegar not as strong. If you have 1/2 cup leftover vinegar from your first batch or a mother and can add that to a second batch of vinegar, you can use honey to ferment. It will do the job. However, I find best to alternate feeding the mother with raw sugar as well – it likes it more than honey. Best to do one batch sugar, one batch honey, one batch sugar again etc. , that’s if you want to use honey as well.

You probably don’t want to put a lid on if while it’s fermenting, otherwise the gases won’t be able to escape. I’ve made other fermented vegetables, like sour kraut – haven’t tried apple cider vinegar yet. It does smell a bit when you have to – stir it in this case (with sour kraut you push it down). The smell isn’t too strong though. And after a few days it starts smelling pretty nice.

Hi, Ellie. As Naomi said, no lid, the gases need to escape. I simply put it on the highest shelf in the pantry to make sure I don’t knock it over or something. As for the smell, I actually don’t find that it smells bad at all. It’s not like other fermented products. Hope this helps. x

Isn’t the reason you leave off the lid to allow natural yeasts in the air to enter the system? This is the case with making a sourdough mother. The cheesecloth filters out dust and larger spores but allows in beneficial bacteria…

Exposure to air during fermentation is to prevent alcooholic fermentation. Putting a lid on the mix would make it airtight and eventually give you some hard cider, assuming your container resists the gas pressure.

Aloha!
I made some acv and bottled it and it was great and tasty. After about 6 weeks I opened it and it fizzed like mad and tastes like cider now. Did I bottle it too early or what? If so, any way I can salvage it? Ta

Hi Craig.
I personally never bottled any. I have a continuous brew, only make and use what I need for about a month, then off to the next batch.
Hopefully some of the other brewers know more about bottling.

i am anil in india recovering my health i have a lot about apple cider benefits and decided to make it at home as apple cider is not available here in mumbaii purchased a lot of sweet apples washed them thouroughly clean dried them with a cloth peeled them chopped them into snall cubes brought a new clean glassjar and placed all these cubes in the glass jar added some water and closed the jar with a cloth tightly eevery2 days i removed the cloth and stirred it all with a clean woodden ladle its 10 days now wnow a sweet aroma i get please someone be my guru and please tell me is the cider done or how long should i keep on stirring there are some bubbles and a faint aroma of ferment.please tell me is the cider doneor how long in days should i wait and stir it everyday and lid it please tell me the next steps now later i intend to addm garlic cinnamonand ginger but when should i go for that as for the cider will someone tell me how to know its done and ready
anil in india,

Think I made Hard Cider….didn’t think to look at anything first, just tried to remember Mammaws recipe. She had cider, she had ACV mixed a cup of the acv in the gallon of cider and sat it in the cellar in a gallon canning jar. Put a lid and flat on it loosely checked on it when she went down for canned goods, it would seal though, eventually.
Things just sort of appeared on the table after that. She used it everyday in something and it beautiful when the light was on her jars. like cloudy honey. And mines beautiful, golden when it settles, smells like apples and NOT vinegar. Hmm if I take the like off and add a breathable top, do you think it will make? Or do I just drink it and go blind or something.. its very tastey.

Based on 2 liters. Use 1/4 apple pieces + 3/4 water (25%-75%). Add one cup of live ACV and 1 cup of sugar. Use a resealable bag with water in to submerge the apple pieces and stop them going mouldy at the top.

Depending on temp. leave for 4 weeks (stirring and testing for taste each day) then strain and leave covered with a cloth for a further 2 weeks.
Then test for taste and bottle if needed.
Different areas of the world/seasons take longer/sooner.

If you put a lid on it you’re essentially making a bomb. It will blow up. If you want to close it off go to a home brew supply and get a bubbler…. But vinegar needs o2 to be able to do is thing if you cut out of from the air you’re just gonna get hard cider which isn’t bad either

Don’t remember if I wrote this before, but I save old pantyhose, well-washed, and use for everything under the sun. Currently, I have a batch of vinegar doing its thing on top of my fridge. No cheesecloth, using the bottom couple inches of pantyhose foot – works great. 🙂

I don’t use plastic for anything, since they don’t make non-toxic varieties (anymore). Plastics of any kind are choke-full of hormone disruptors that have no taste and no smell. If you get exposed to them regularly (as we all do and hardly by choice), the plasticizers are going to ruin your endocrine health in more or less subtle ways. It is not a question of IF, but a question of HOW MUCH. My humble advice: whenever you have the choice, stay away from plastic, it’s not worth the price it’ll make you pay.
I use stone pottery, lead-free&cadmium-free glass, wood, my hands — that’s about it.

hi Chris..I’m from Philippines.. it’s hard to find organic apples here coz apples don’t grow in our country..can I still use it even if it’s not organic..does it affect the health benefits that we get from acv..thank you and god bless you always..

I started a batch a month ago…but missed that part about straining out the solids. So, I have a few buckets and bottles full of apple mush that I am faithfully stirring twice a day. Any chance you know if it is going to “separate” at some point? It is just a nice smelling mush at this point…
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Margo! Oh, so hard to say, cannot know without seeing or smelling the ‘mush’. And it is fermented foods we’re talking about so tricky if not done right.
I think it definitely needs straining and better do it as soon as possible.
Not sure if it can still be consumed though!

Well, good news! I strained it- ended up with two gallons- and it definitely smells and tastes like tasty vinegar. It is not very strong, though, so I will leave it for a couple more weeks to see if it gets stronger. At what point does the mother form? Also, does the vinegar ever get clear, or does it stay ‘cloudy’?

One thing I thought was odd- when I strained the ‘mush’, the solids quickly turned dark, with the outside part that had touched the metal strainer turning black. The liquid did not seem to be affected, but it was rather disconcerting to see the solids turn so quickly. Does yours do that as well? The last little bit I used a plastic strainer with a cloth in it and it did not turn black. It is stainless steel, which normally does not react to acidic foods. Any ideas?

We are pressing more apple cider again next week, and I think I will try another batch with the leftovers…it will make a fun Christmas gift 🙂

I so enjoy reading your acv adventures Margo! I wish I could answer all your questions, but am not an expert at it! 🙂 The only way I’ve made it so far (and done so a lot) is by sticking to this recipe.
The acv will stay cloudy and you want it like that. It means it’s unfiltered and that it has the good bacteria.
I hope your family and friends enjoy their healthy homemade gifts xx

I thought I would update a bit: I have kept the acv on the refrigerator, and it has gradually become clear as it has settled.On the next batch, I did not remove the white ‘scum’ that formed on the top, but just gently pushed it to the side when I stirred it every day or two. It turns out that that white film was the beginning of a mother, not mold. After several weeks it became thick and firm. This has been a very interesting project!

Ferments are fantastic for your health and fun to learn and make! No ferments like metal. Stainless is supposed to be okay, but I’m pretty sure many things (esp from China) are labelled as such, but are not. Really acidic foods like vinegar probably can’t tolerate metal at all, so use nylon or fabric. Glad I found this page, as our teacher for ferments was not all that great. I will be starting my ACV today, as the one I started 6 weeks ago, has little acidity. I think I used to little apple. So I’m off to try this one. 🙂
(My kefir, kombucha, yogurt and veggies (krauts) are all great!)

Chris, I have just gotten interested in making ACV and have been reading the questions others have had. One question that many have had was if it was ready. Braggs ACV has been diluted to 5% acidity. I do not know where it was before it was diluted but would be interested to find out. To find out if yours is ready, I would wait until the acidity is 5%. To do that you can get some PH test strips and check the PH of you vinegar. 5% has a PH of about 4.6. I haven’t made any yet but when I do I am going to let it ferment until it reaches a PH of at least 4.5. Also, the nutritionist at the VA says ACV is very good for your liver and other organs and it is good to drink the Mother. That is the reason it says to shake well on the bottle of Braggs.

put that mush thru a cheese cloth over a strainer and press it thru.. It will appear more like unfiltered ACV and not have the clarity of pulling the fruit earlier. It will taste the same and have a wonderful smell. Good luck and enjoy that Vinegar.

I appreciate your feedback. Though, if one is a beginner at fermentation and cannot tell good mold from bad mold, eating fermented foods that went bad can be very bad for the body and can have serious health consequences (think really bad food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhea).
Fermented foods are easy once you get the hang of it, that’s very true!

I will leave that sentence there and hopefully people will continue to ask questions when unsure. Better safe than sorry! 😉

Hi everyone! I’m coming back to this question after having tried few batches of fermented products with few types of sugar.

If you want to start a mother from scratch, meaning you’re making this recipe for example, best to use a raw sugar. Honey works, but not as well I find – process is slower and the end vinegar not as strong.
(PS: The mother is the white film/mold that will begin to form on top of your vinegar after few weeks!)

If you have 1/2 cup leftover vinegar from your first batch or a mother and can add that to a second batch of vinegar, you can use honey to ferment. It will do the job. However, I find best to alternate feeding the mother with raw sugar as well – it likes it more than honey. Best to do one batch sugar, one batch honey, one batch sugar etc. if you want to use honey as well.

Thank you so much for the information about adding the cider to the new batch.
I am interested in two major questions

1. Can I add ordinary American Garden Apple Cider to the new batch like we do with Kombucha? I am a bit weary about the absence of vinegar to help in the fermentation and keeping the brew “safe”

2. I followed the instructions to the T but cannot find a zip lock to keep the apples down and it is about a week now. There is a lovely scent coming from the brew but I steered it today for the first time and found the apples on top had turned brown. Should I be worried about this?

It is possible… Think mead, it’s fermented honey and water but it takes a very long time to complete fermentation. Wine and beer can be finished in as little as a few weeks depending on batch size but mead can take up to a year or more

Mead ferments because it’s diluted (1 gallon of water per pound of honey) and because a starter of some sort is used to start the fermentation, even if you’re doing a wild ferment (as opposed to commercial yeast).

It takes a year not to ferment (actually, it only takes a couple of weeks to ferment to somewhere around 14% ABV), but to age. Mead is a wine, and like its grape-based cousins, gets better with age. As a general rule of thumb, 9-12 months is the minimum mead needs to age before it acquires a good flavor profile, though some varieties need longer (though it rarely hurts to let it continue to age).

They tend to pasteurize/homogenize everything now and that kills of all the good bacteria as well as the bad.

When you kill off all small amounts of bacteria!
Your body has no natural defense.

Just look at cowpox

“More than 200 years ago, in one of the first demonstrations of vaccination, Edward Jenner inoculated a young English boy with cowpox material from a dairymaid and showed that the boy became resistant to smallpox.”

I just found your post, out of all the others. So, I used cores and peels of local farmer’s market apples. Almost every farmer I’ve ever asked has said,” if another farmer tells you he doesn’t use pesticides he’s lying!” I live in N.C… So, my apple cores an eels aren’t organic. What do you think will happen to my finished product’s benefits. Now that I’m thinking this I just hope they’re not GMO apples! So, I processed half of cores and peels in a vitamix, and the other just shoved in jar. I think I have too many cores and peels BC looking at it, the apple parts floating are over half the amount of water that is on the bottom of the jar. Will that be a problem?

Hi Regina,
Can’t really say about the benefits of your apples. I wouldn’t go for peels of sprayed apples as they retain a lot of the chemicals. There are farmers that don’t spray for sure. Look for those apples that are not as perfect or as shiny.
As for the vinegar, make sure the apples or apple pieces stay submerged at all times. If they’re floating around, they might form the nasty type of mold that you wouldn’t want to eat.

Hi, I’m Linda from the Philippines, I will try your recipe. My question is, can I used a clay jar to start my recipe and can I use not so fresh apple because we don’t grow apples here. It’s cheaper if I can use some old apples but not rotten? Thanks!

Hey Linda, hope I’m not too late but I think those apples will work! I’m not an expert, I’ve just started my own first batch as well. I don’t see why they wouldn’t just make sure you add some boiling water into the jar to clean it 🙂

Hi Linda, that’s a very good question. I reckon the clay jar should work well as long as air can escape. I’m making sauerkraut in clay 🙂
And yes to old apples. As long as they’re not rotten they should work just fine. xx

I had the same thing happen. It happened because I could not get the apples to sink, since I had nothing that would fit in my jars. :/ It smells just fine, even sweet and nice, but there are white and green spots on the apples themselves (the ones poking out of the water). Is this okay, or should I begin again?

In case someone else is perusing the comments: that thin white film on the top is not mold- at least not the bad kind! Just stir it in. That is the beginning of your ‘mother’. I have 14 jars started right now, and at 7 days, the film began. Once you strain out the solids, the white film will begin again. Just push it gently to the side before you stir (I stir daily) and it will thicken into a lovely mother over a period of weeks.

Hi Jill, please see comment above. Depends how your mold looks and smells.
I just uploaded an update to this recipe. Please check the end of the article. Hope it helps, hope it answers some questions xx

This sounds like a fantastic thing to try. I am currently experimenting with various ferments. Can you advise how long after the fermentation is complete that the product will last and does it need to be refrigerated after completion?

when you reach the taste you are looking for, refrigerate to stop further fermentation. Once you have reached full vinegar it does not need refrigeration but I believe it will continue to become stronger vinegar if you don’t refrigerate it.

Hi Anne. I agree with Teresa, above.
Once done, if you leave it at room temp, it will continue to ferment. If you refrigerate it, fermentation occurs at a much slower rate which means flavor will stay the same for a longer time.
Vinegar keeps for many months, however flavor might changer with time, less sweet, more tart and definitely stronger.

Hello from Switzerland
The problem is, that the apples are lighter than water and swim on top – when greenish mold is on the apples it is unusable and toxic.
I have to try it again, stirring more often or use another jar… 🙂

Martha, rinse jars well to remove all dish soap residue, then give them a final rinse with distilled white vinegar. Stir your batches but don’t use any metal utensils. Dish soap residue and metal will sabotage your fermenting efforts.

I use half gallon, and experimented with quarts as well as a gallon plastic bucket- they all worked perfectly. Also, green scum is bad, but the white scum is the beginning of the mother. All sizes of jars ended up with a mother, but I didn’t realize what the white film was in the bucket (my first attempt), so scooped it off each day. Oops.

No- I didn’t use any sugar last year and all went well. This year I’m experimenting, using sugar in some, well water in some, cider instead of water in some… My thought is that the sugar just speeds things along, but it also might depend on sugar content of the apples. I use sweet apples (I use the leftovers from pressing apple cider), and they are quite ripe. Sugar won’t hurt, that’s for sure!

Hi Joyce & Margo.
Margo is spot on, you can skip the sugar if your apples are super sweet. But sugar does help the fermentation process. If you are concerned about your sugar intake, just know that the bacteria feeds on the sugar and not much is left once the vinegar is done. You won’t end up drinking sugar, but bacteria needs it to grow and ferment faster.
Good luck! x

This answer helps. I made 3 jars each jar has one tbsp of sugar, 3 apples and two glasses of water. I’m worried because sugar should have been 3 tsps in each jar.
So far i discarded one jar bec of the grayish moulds that grew after just a week.
The other two jars have the white bubbles. So happy with the nice smell as well. I haven’t done any stirring because I’m afraid i might spoil the contents. It’s been two weeks. All i do is just open and push the floating apples and check if there are any gray moulds. Is it ok not to stir at this point?

Would you say that this is about a 1 quart jar? I was reading another recipe and in a 1 gallon jar it called for 1 cup sugar. That sounded excessive to me. Does more sugar make it ferment faster? Is the sugar all consumed in the process?

Hi Jim, 1 cup sugar per gallon is the correct ratio. 1/2 cup sugar for a half gallon jar, etc. You need the sugar for the fermentation process, the end product will have very little or no sweetness left. If it is a little sweet, you have made hard cider, and if not sweet but vinegary you have reached vinegar.

Hi,
I’ve now made 5 different batches (non of which are finished yet) and they’re all a different colour/smell. One smelled horrific and I tossed it the other 4 range in colour drastically. One is dark brown, one is almost white and the other two are in-between. None of them smell great and they all have varying amounts of floating film. Two jars were meant to be finished last week. I’d love to know what has gone wrong, and if in time they’ll ever smell less like rot and more like vinegar?
Thanks so much!

To MerryMumma, your ambition is admirable, but you may have made afew mistakes, one being leaving dish soap residue on the inside of your jars. These need to be rinsed thoroughly and given a final rinse of white distilled vinegar. Any amount of dish soap left behind will sabotage your fermenting efforts, and will allow for bad molds to develop. A second mistake is using metal stirring utensils as contact with metal will kill the mother of the whole thing.
My homemade apple cider vinegar never smells bad at any point from start to finish. I believe you need to start over with some of you batches. I hope you do it right and succeed with new ambition equal to that large ambition you started with!!!!

Seems like adding prewash with white vinegar… And don’t use metal to stir would be helpful to add to the original instructions. I am reading the comments after I followed the recipe and am concerned B/C I did not sterilize jar with white vinegar and used metal to stir (but will not of course continue).
Just a thought.
Thank you for your time.

Hi MerryMumma. So sorry to hear.
I just posted an edit to the recipe with a bit more advice. Please check the end of the article, hope it helps!
Also, Teresa’s feedback is good! Definitely to keep in mind with sterilizing and using metal.

Hi! Im grace a filipina DH here im Malaysia… My employer have bought a juice extractor which directly separate the fruit flesh from the juice… And i always feel dont want just throw the extracted flesh. So now, I am wondering whether I can use the left over flesh to do my own vinegar?
Hope you can give me feedback as soon as possible bcoz i want to start my 1st batch asap as my contract ends october. Thanks!

Anne from Australia
Hello , I was inspired by your recipe to use our home grown apples and have the first batch maturing in the pantry cupboard , almost ready to use ! I’ve also started 2 different batches ( the orchard has been very fruitful this autumn ) one of chopped quinces and the other with halved crab apples , using a raw local honey instead of sugar . They are happily bubbling away and smell delicious , especially the quince . Has anyone else tried different pome fruits ? I was wondering about using medlars next .

Hi Anne, we are down under too and have 2 trees laden with apples which is why I checked out how to make apple cider vinegar. Homegrown apples are perfect, especially since we don’t use any chemicals. Just wondering if you have any tips to keep the apples submerged?

Hi Karen , hope the brew is going well . I just stir down the apple pieces on top about twice a week with a wooden spoon . I was given lots of very ripe medlars so have started off a bucket batch of them , and they seem to be fermenting very quickly and forming a solid top that I stir down more often .
Cheers Anne .

Thanks for your response, Anne. That was exactly what I did and good news, the brew is going well. Now onto the 2nd stage of fermentation. I think I’ve actually added too much extra water when trying to submerge the apples (they floated!). But it will just be a bit more diluted, I guess. Will definitely do this again next apple season. Hope your medlar vinegar is going well too!
Cheers,
Karen

If you fill a quart jar with water & put a plate on top of the apples with the jar on top the apples will stay submerged …this method works for making pickles & sauerkraut to keep things from floating up top . If your batch is smaller use anything that will weight it down . I have used hand weights on top of a plate in the past .😊

Came here to say that. Raw honey has its own bacteria and enzymes which in the case of the former competes for food with the lactobacilli and in the case of the later outright kills all kinds of other microbes. It is not to be fermented with unless your some hardcore fermenter with excess resources just out to prove you can make such a food. It’s wasteful and counterindicated.

Chris I agree, it does work. I actually used filtered, local honey. I used it in my first gallon batch and my second 1/2 gallon batch. Both bubbled up and actually ran over some. Glad I had a saucer under the jars. I sneaked a taste of that–very good. I’ll be straining my first batch tomorrow. It’s had a beautiful almost caramel color–it excites me to see it.

Late this past summer we had so many apples & pears from 2 trees each. We made apple & pear sauce and canned pears., sliced apples and added cinnamon & froze for pies. Still more fruit. Shared some. Decided to make cider. Made a press, pressed a 5-gallon bucket of fruit at a time, no cores though. Made 5-gallon of hard apple cider–just bottled that; working on 1 gallon of hard pear cider, soon to bottle. Made about 8 more gallons of reg.pear cider. and 3 more reg. apple cider, froze several gallons. There were buckets of mashed apples and cores. The compost pile ate well. I had lots of apples in a spare fridge. So I was glad to see recipes to make acv. I hate to waste food and decided to give it a try. The first recipe I saw used honey (or you could use sugar). Today I made fresh applesauce and another batch of avc but used sugar this time. .

I have about 10kg of apples that I would like to turn into ACV. I have a large plastic food grade tub that has a lid which is loose so would allow gasses to escape. Looking at your recipe, 3 apples, 3 tsp sugar, I am thinking that would be a lot of sugar for 10kg apples. Can you give me some tips on fermenting on a larger scale please. Many thanks

Hello. I have followed your recipe. It is smelling a lot like vinegar. 🙂 However I used green “granny smith” apples and they have not turned the usual brown colour. Has anybody else tried this? I think everything is normal it is murky but not the usual brown colour of apple cider vinegar.

Hi Chris. I’m from Porac, Philippines. Its been 4 months that there is no available ACV even on every nearby big supermarkets. That is why last May of this year, I begin finding out how to make an ACV. I have followed your recipe and procedures in making my ACV and just harvest last night the first batch of my ACV, then make another batch. Thank you for the info Chris. God bless.

On the sugar part can any raw form of sugar work like let’s say dehydrated maple syrup to dehydrated honey? Just wondering I am going to buy a hive flow for honey and start tapping for syrup and I learned how dehydrate them

Oh, never heard of dehydrated honey or maple. Not sure. I tried brewing with honey and it worked.
I just uploaded an edit to the recipe, please see the end of the article, especially the part about using honey.
Hope that helps.

Hi from China! I recently made acv in the same way you described. But then a mother scoby formed and now want to use it in my next batch. I juiced many apples… And now? Do I just add in the mother and some starter acv like kombucha? Or do I wait for the juice to ferment then add in the mother?

I’ve added “mother” from a previous batch at different stages and it -so far! – has had a good outcome always , its always been after straining out the fruit though , I don’t know if anyone else has tried adding it earlier ? I added some to some dessert wine that was taking ages ( 6 months ) and it became a beautiful vinegar within weeks .

We have used many different types of apples rendering many different tastes and colors. But cleaning with the vinegar is absolutely a dream and the cat and dog we have don’t mind when we rub it on and the fleas say bye bye. Thanks again.

Hi Chris! I just came across your recipe after getting bugged by my mother to make some apple cider vinegar, I was trying to convince her that it would be too hard (having a lazy kinda day), but your recipe made it impossible not to try. It sounds so easy ! (besides the patience factor). One question though, is there a better kind of apple for this recipe or will any kind work well. Of course I would prefer the organic apples as opposed to conventional. Thanks for the recipe, lovely picture and inspiration too Chris. xoxo

Hi Silvia (sorry for the late reply!)
Any apples will work, though the sweeter varieties are best for this. They will make a sweet and beautifully flavored vinegar.
So happy your mum put you up to this 😀 enjoy brewing! xx

it’s been about three weeks since i started my acv. It’s my first time, but my apples are still floating. it’s not bubbling anymore but there is some white film on top. I read before that the apples should sink after a week. What did i do wrong? Did i add too much water?

Hi Kris. Sorry for the late reply, but I’ll reply nonetheless 🙂
I just uploaded an edit to the recipe that answers some questions. Please see the end of the article.
If not bubbling anymore, sounds like it’s done. Even if apples are still floating.
The white film – if similar to my photo, it’s good. If your vinegar smells nice, all good.
Hope this helps x

Hi. Rather than leaving them in the fridge (chances are they will go brown and begin to go bad and you risk sabotaging your brew), I would actually start a very small batch with the first 2 cores, but place it in a larger jar and add sugar enough for 6-7 cores. Then I would continue to add a core everyday for about a week let’s say. Then let it do it’s thing.

I have 2 batches going. First one reached the strain stage a week ago. Strained and white film starting on top but the vinegar is clear/whitish but smells like acv. Why isn’t it the brownish color? Second batch is same, no color. Did I do something wrong? It smells fine.

Hi Cathi. If it smells and tastes fine, then it should be ok.
Colour is given by the type of apples (pink, dark red or green apples will give different colours) and also by the type of sugar (white, light brown or very dark brown).

Hi. Thank for sharing this. I am starting my first batch tonight. I believe from other’s questions that I don’t need to do anything about apples sticking out of the liquid if I stir it every day or two. True? Also, I am wondering if when the apple pieces sink and I am to strain them out, do I squeeze them out in cheesecloth or just pull them out with out squeezing or smushing them? Thank you for your help.

Hi Jill. Yes, stirring every day or two should do it. You can also help keep them submerged – please see the later edit to my recipe, at the end of the article.
I just strain the apples without squeezing and feed the leftovers to my garden.

I have an old (50-100yr?) apple tree that is very fruitful never sprayed but the skin has a fungus called sooty ash on it. The inside of the apples are a delicious firm sour apple.. CAN i use the apples with skin on even though it has this fungus or will it interfere with the fermentation? Wanted to juice the apples and use mush for vinegar… pealing is a pain…
thank you
pam

Hi Pam, I honestly could not say for sure. I am not familiar with that fungus (or any fungus at a matter of fact), wish I were!
I just quickly googled it though and by the looks of it, I would say safest to peel – it looks like the apples are damaged in the areas with that fungus and they turn brown. Maybe other apple growers and brewers can be of more help. x

Not being offensive in anyway but if alot of you actually read the whole article instead of just reading what materials were needed to do it and a few of you remembering to cater to the vinegar like is needed alot of these questions wouldnt be asked. Also my guess as to why she quit responding.

Hello to all you guys and guyesses fro Kiev, Ukraine. I am an expat from New Zealand ..apple land! I have lived here for three years and at LONG LAST some very good ORGANIC apples ( Praise the Lord!)grown in Western Ukraine have finally appeared in our local supermarket… bought 2 k and one half kilos tod ay so I guess I will be busy from time to time! I am so looking foward to embarking on this ACV …WITH the MOTHER adventure, tomorrow is the day I will start so wish me luck. I have read through the recipe, advice and comments from end to end very very carefully and takrn it all on board I yope. ll I hope is that someone from this wonderful site will be able to give me some encouragement from time to time. This would be so appreciated.

Hi Jackie, sorry for my absence. I was swamped with work!
I’m back tho. I answered to heaps of comments above and also uploaded an edit to the recipe, please see the end of the article.
If you’re running into trouble or need advice, feel free to come back here and ask. But kindly check if the question was asked and answered before. The thread is incredibly long by now! 🙂
Good luck brewing! xx

Just weighing in on some questions above. Many questions are answered in these comments, so please read the comments if you have a question.

Regarding color, I have had light-colored vinegar from yellow apples, so maybe the skin color affects this. I also wonder if I get better color if I leave my apple scraps out to let them naturally brown for a day or two before starting my vinegar.

I tried making vinegar from very tart, low sugar apples once without adding sugar. It failed. Whether that was due to the sugar being too low, or to a failure to get all my dish soap washed off my jar, I don’t know. Add the sugar. It helps.

The floating scum is either the Mother or the Scoby. Normal. Don’t worry about it.

Don’t use metal utensils or a metal strainer.

Once you finish and use a sealed lid on your vinegar, it is basically going to quit changing because of limited or nonexistent air exchange. I have never refrigerated finished vinegar, and it has been fine.

Hi everyone, is it safe to place it in a 5-gallon plastic container? Won’t it melt the plastic due to acidity? I’m planning to create a small business out of this for my friends and family. What things should i consider? Appreciate the feedback. Godspeed 🙂

Hi Kendra, if you’re using food safe, bpa free plastic, it should be ok.
If you want to start a business out of this, my first advice would be to contact your local health officer and ask for his/her advice on starting a business that involves fermented foods. They are best equipped to tell you what conditions you need to meet, H&S to be considered so you make safe food. Best of luck! So exciting for you x

Dear chris.. It’s my first experience and the apples has veen in the jar for 10 days now.. But seems like apples started to go to the top of the jar and some apples went beyond the water surface and got some mold on them.. Beyond that the batch looks good and promising should i uncocer it and puck up these ir leave everything till the end.. Or that means the batch went bad and i should throw it away..
Thanks alot and by ur other recipes are amazing

I started making this last week but within a few days the apple pieces at the top of the jar have turned very brown (like they’re spoiled) while the pieces underneath them are still normal colour. So I have a layer of brown apples at the top of the jar (about 8 pieces of apple) while the rest of the apple pieces below are fine (about 25 pieces of apple).

Should I remove the brown apples at the top of the jar or leave them in?

Hi Shah, I just uploaded an edit to the recipe, please check the end of the article, especially the bit about mold.
If there was no mold and the brew still smells nice, I would continue, but submerge the apples.

You can go a step further with ACV, and make flavored ACVs. Currently I am making Hawthorn ACV, which has the added benefits of that berry (widely available and free from trees everywhere, but do be very sure of which berries you are picking, you don’t want to make a mistake) for the heart. Will start a fennel ACV soon, too. You can look these up, but basically you fill a jar with either hawthorn berries, or fennel, the latter small, cover about 1/2 inch above the berries/fennel with ACV, weight the fruit down (cabbage leaf and a washed stone/rock suffices), you don’t want any floaters, cover with fabric circle or coffee filter, or JCloth or…., and an elastic, let sit on counter 6 weeks, giving very gentle shakes every few days to begin, then once a week to release the bubbles. This is not a ferment as such. I found the info in the fabulous book, “All Good Things Around Us” by Pamela Martin. You can make other flavours, I haven’t looked them all up yet, but they all further the health benefits of ACV and its flavour. Thanks for this recipe, Chris!

(too bad i couldn’t go back and edit my original post)
Pamela Michael’s great book, told me many things to do with Hawthorn Berries, but there’s a website that was where you can specifically find about the Vinegars: wildcrafty.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/what-can-i-can-do-with-hawthorn-berrries

Hi Ryan, indeed we shouldn’t ferment in metal or use metal to stir or anything.
However, I do use a stainless steel sieve when I strain the apples. It’s only for a brief time that it’s in contact with the brew though. I find it hasn’t affected the outcome at all.

This is my first shot at this and when I pulled the apples out to discard them one of them had some white mold and green mold. I didn’t have a cheese cloth so I used a few coffee filters to cover (with a rubber band to keep them tight). Does the green mold mean I need to restart (with a cheese cloth) and that this batch is bad?

Hi Al, sadly green mold means that something went wrong. I would personally feed the apples to my garden and start again.
I just uploaded an update to the recipe. Please see the end of the article. Also, it might help going through some of the comments above – lots of useful Q&As!
Good luck with your second batch!

Thanks for the recipe. I bought some apple vinegar with the mother and I was wondering if I could use that mother and how would that alter the process you described? When should I put the mother in after straining the apples? thanks so much!

Hi! Thanks a lot for the instructions, can’t wait to make my own ACV! By the way, I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it previously, but you can sterilize the jars in the microwave. Just put it on full power for roughly 2 minutes and you’re good. That’s how I normally sterilize my jars for jams. Hugs and blessings to you!

I am excited to be experimenting with my first batch of ACV, and honestly one of the first fermentation processes I’ve tried out beyond brewing beer/making wine with a lot of fancy equipment.

My ACV has been sitting for ~6 weeks and no mother has formed. I strained the apples out after ~2 weeks. It bubbled for awhile as the pictures show, then calmed down and now smells quite vinegary. I did not include any mother from a previous batch. Should I be concerned? Do I continue to wait? Did something potentially go wrong? I have not tasted it as I’m nervous of toxicity…wondering if no mother is a sign that it could potentially be ‘bad’?

Not necessarily Sara. The vinegar should smell nice, vinegary, a bit perfumed from the apples. If it went bad you should generally be able to tell from the smell and by how it looks. You can taste test only a tiny bit one day, like a teaspoon. Really hard for me to be able to help more without seeing it. Hope this helps x

[…] I could write a whole separate blog about the infinite benefits of ACV (in fact, I will; stay tuned) but as far as a germ-fighter, this little baby saved me a whole lot of grief in my younger I’m-in-public-school-but-I-still-bite-my-nails days. Strep throat? Take a shot of ACV. Congestion? Take a shot of ACV. Nausea? … Well, maybe not nausea; let’s just say it’s an acquired taste. Achy flu body? Taka a shot of ACV. (Are you getting the picture?) The point is this: ACV kills germs. All kinds of germs. Like Olive Leaf, it helps prevent the onslaught of illness like a champ. Better than Olive Leaf, it CURES minor yuckies (particularly things like strep) with the quickness! Since it’s liquid (and might be less than delicious) I usually mix it with tea and raw honey for the added benefits and to make it more palatable. Though once you’re a tenured user like myself, you can drink it straight out of the bottle with only the most minor, “DEAR GOD THAT’S HORRIBLE” face. Bonus round: Also safe for kids! Though good luck getting them to drink it unless you have weirdo kids like me that looove the sour stuff. Plus it’s super duper cheap (and easy to make if you’re feeling all DIY-ish) […]

If you think that organic fruits and vegetables don’t also have pesticide residues on them, you know nothing about organic, nor GEO, farming.
Your little ‘Certified Organic’ sticker does not mean that product is pesticide or herbicide free.
If anything, you should be washing your organic fruits even harder than your GE’s.

Wow all those comments! Spent the night and half the day just reading. I’m from the Philippines, too, and ACV is the latest health craze here, so it’s always sold out and supermarkets have imposed a limit on the quantity one can purchase. Hotter than hotcakes. =)

Anyway I’m excited to try and make my own ACV and I’ve been reading and reading and taking notes. Thank you for this post, will let you know how it turned out.

[…] Pickled vegetables adds a wonderful vinegary aspect to meals and also particularly good in burger. Who loves burgers as much as I do? Purchase organic or good quality apple cider and some fresh vegetables, and I promise the jar of pickles will be incredibly nutritious for the body. Buy vegetables in season for maximum flavour and colour, also it can be cheaper when there is an over supply of produce. Not Quite Nigella has a wonderful pickled capsicum here and if you have time try making Tales of a Kitchen’s apple cider vinegar here. […]

Hi. I made ACV and separated the apple during the second week bcz the white scum was turning brown. Then I left it in a dark place for 4 weeks, it smells like ACV but is not strong enough. I them bought one from dischem to compare they have the same colour n they both settle the same way after shaking them with a little grey substance at the bottom. My worries is that mine taste a little rotten but not too much, I don’t know if it’s bcz its a homemade. I started using it n I see no bad side effects but I just want it to do its job.

Hi Chris………..I made about 400 ml of ACV the first time I tried it in April earlier this year. It was fun making it and it turned out real great in golden brown color just as shown in the pics here. I have now put the second lot about 3 liters about 3 weeks back. Its fermenting abs fine. I hope the second lot also comes out in golden color with just the right acidity. Thanks for the recipe.

Hi Chris……….. I sieved the second lot of ACV about a month back and left it since then for acid to develop. Two days ago I tasted it…….and wow, this lot has turned out to be more sour and the texture is just superb. Can’t thank you enough for the recipe.

For the water I boiled some and mixed it with the sugar in a measuring jug, then once the sugar was dissolved I added cold water so the water was around body temperature. When added this actually starts the fermentation process within 2 days for me.

I also leave the bottom of my jar in a larger container as I found they sometimes overflowed the first few days

I also keep mine in the conservatory so the mix remains warmish to the touch and it seems to ferment better, maybe it’s also faster but I don’t worry about that and leave it for 3 weeks anyway, although you can start to get a vinegar smell around 10-12 days

Already started more by adding warm water with sugar to the original apples, 5 days on and it’s fermenting nicely. Looks the same as the first lot, smells the same as the first lot, fermenting the same as the first lot, so here’s hoping it is going to work ok.

Sugar helps the fermentation process. You can do it without, but best to use apples that are very sweet if you skip the sugar altogether. Good to know you won’t be consuming the sugar in the finished product, the bacteria eats pretty much all of it during the fermentation.

i liked your reading material and i share your view . we in Goa make vinegar from coconut toddy,and from any fruits we get.the process is the same .After you have strained the pulp in about 2-3 weeks we add a red hot earthen piece the raw vinegar and let it in for the next 2 months.the vinegar matures and all fermentation stops after the earthen piece is inserted,.You will see the membrane floating on top(mother vinegar) don’t disturb it.this membrane cane be used later to hasten the process of your next apple cider vinegar.try it.I do it since childhood.Good luck.

I am making my first batch of acv and have just strained the apples. The liquid is very thick, like syrup. Is it supposed to be thick? should I add more sugar water and make it the correct thickness for vinegar? Everything else in the process (white foam) seems to be working.

Did you keep to the proportions in the recipe Darcelle? Curious why it would be so thick, it should be just like water in consistency. I’d first try to understand why it became thick, to make sure the batch is ok.

I looked at the recipe again and I see that mis-read the instructions. I filled up a quart jar with apple slices and then I added a sugar water mixture (2 tablespoons sugar to 1 cup of water) to cover the apples. Then I covered it with cheesecloth and placed it in a cupboard.

As I mentioned the foam formed and everything else seems to be good other than the liquid is very thick.

Any thoughts about if this can be salvaged? I made 6 quarts and would hate to throw it all out.

From previous experience in wine-making I often got a thick mix because I used wild berries such as blackberries and elderberries, and if the mix was thick you just added water. The best way to do this is with water you have boiled and allowed to cool until lukewarm
If you add hot water you risk completely killing the bacteria culture, and are guaranteed to kill at least part of it

In the past I’ve watered down store-bought White Vinegar without problems

I would personally try it with only one quart first

The only difference in making vinegars and wines is that you use an airlock when making wines. At the moment I also have a white wine vinegar mix running (about 2 weeks behind date-wise) alongside my acv that I started by adding some mother from the acv, I checked it a few days ago and it is going nicely.

You’re welcome, add the water slowly and mix/stir in. Remember that watering it down will reduce the acidity, if it reduces too far the mixture may mould on you.
It may even be better to do this in stages where you add some water and thin your mix a bit, then allow it to ferment and gain acidity before watering it down further

But consider costs of a testing kit you will (probably) never use again against cost of buying apples and starting again

My inclination is to just wait and see what happens

One possible option assuming you have more than one container is to keep one container warm whilst keeping the rest somewhere as cold as possible
The cold will inhibit (but not prevent) mould growth whilst heat will encourage it. If there is going to be mould growth it will be noticeable within 7-10 days

Have you tried tasting it ? If it tastes pretty much the same as the store bought then issue solved

I put it all together, but did put a top on the apples and liquid when fermenting – I shook it each day and burped it a few times. After 7-10 days, apples had not sunk so strained the liquid into new jar and put kitchen paper with band over mouth has placed in cupboard for 2 weeks. Pulled it out to taste. It has a site film on the top of it, very cloudy with plumes of matter in bottom and smells fruity. I reread your site, then moved it to bench top with muslin on top this time and it’s been now 4 weeks. Still smells fruity, tastes like apple cider a little, few bubbles. Is it salvageable as vinegar or do I have bootleg?

hi i am really shocked after 3 months my apple cider vinegar is not like golden color(its white liquade and there is no any smell like ordinary vinegar smell ,this is my 1st time i am making homemade vinegar
please guide me thanks

I did three jars two were Apple scraps from the scraps of canning 6 litres of apple juice the other was chopped apples
We moved into a house with an acre with apple trees dated back to 1920
Two weeks in and strained the jars (used a plastic sieve) and combine it all to make 2 litres of goodness
Smells incrediblely sharp, tangy yet still with that Apple sweetness, really wanted to sample it today but holding off till the 6 week mark
Thank you for this site 😄
Can’t wait to post the results of my AVC attempts
I do think everyone needs to read and reread the entire blog, it’s pretty straight forward and easy to follow

Great find and great discussion. A friend gave me a cider vinegar mother a few days ago. If I go through this process, does anyone know when I should insert the mother? In the first ferment with the scraps, or the second after straining? Thanks!

[…] cider vinegar can be made at home with chunks, cores, and peels of apple, some sugar, water, and a mason jar covered in cheesecloth. It is a simple matter of allowing the apples to ferment and create bacteria, a process that takes […]

Hi, my question is what if the apple pieces dont sink down? With my first batch, the apple pieces sank. Now with this batch its been like 4 or 5 weeks, and the apples are still floating. The difference between batches is #1- i used fresh apples instead of letting them brown for a couple days first and #2- i used the mother from my first batch. My first batch came out a tanish color but this one is a deep cinnamon color☺

I’ve had the concoction in a cool dark cupboard for about 6 weeks. Didn’t stir it once. There is a thick white rubber like substance on the top. Should I discard the peels and apples cores now and put the white thing back in, cover the jar and put back in the cupboard for 6 or more weeks?

Hi, greetings from Canada. I started my first batch of ACV last Nov. 13 and I’ve been stirring it every other day and based from my research of how to brew ACV, I’m suppose to remove the apple solids from the batch after 2 weeks. However, it will be 2 weeks by tomorrow and still the apple pcs. are still floating and for whatever reason, they have not sank down to the bottom of the jar.

Should I just go ahead and remove the apples pcs. and strain the liquids into another jar for further fermentation? Or do I wait another week? Please advise. Thank you.

I know when you have the apples in you vingar you are suppose to stir it or it can grow mold from the oxygen.
I would like to know why you stir it once you take out the apples?
If you have the white bubbles which is going to turn into a mother why would you keep stir it up?
Wont that disturb the mother from growing?

We have wild apples growing all over PEI Canada. Wild apples have no pesticides and are a little more tart but some of the yellow ones are quite sweet. I use them all the time to make apple pies, jam etc. My only concern is, many of them have tiny bug holes which cannot be cut out as they are not sprayed. Would it harm the apple cider if I put in apples with tiny bugs in them?

For those who want you sanitize and have a good experience, go to a home brew supply store and get no rinse sanitizer. 5 star actually helps your ferment. Follow directions to the letter this isn’t one of the cases of if as little is good more is better… You mix it let it sit for a few minutes and poor out out… No rinsing required although I usually do. It actually feeds the yeast that converts the sugars in the fruit to alcohol which of the first step in making vinegar, then the other bacteria ( acetobacter) go to work transforming the “wine” or ” hard cider” ( depending on fruit used) into vinegar. The weird vinegar is French, messaging sour wine.

I tried reusing the apples a second time. After a week with no sign of fermentation I removed some of the liquid, boiled it up and added about 25-30 grams of sugar, then added the hot mixture back figuring it would cool when added to the mixture.
Within 24 hours it was bubbling away quite happily. I left for 3 weeks and added the liquid to my original batch. That was around September time and it has produced a lovely batch.

Hi, i crushed apples with a juicer and put them for 3 weeks but affter 3 weeks, i understand the amount of water is very low. My question is that :
Can i add more cold water or hot water to appeles after 3 weeks?

Did you just use the pulp or did you add the liquid back in? You need to add the juice back as juicers pretty much dehydrate the pulp. Add more apple, cut up small and add liquid. For the liquid boil water, pour into a jug and add some sugar, once dissolved add cold water so the water is tepid, then add to mix and stir in.

I found a worm or 2 on mine and some small flies (week2) my glass container was was covered with cloth and a rubberband. I still continued the process though and I’m at week 5 but just wondering if it would be safe to drink. right now it taste good has a pleasant smell and has some white particles settled at the bottom and is cloudy. I checked all the comments but no one made message of this occurring. thank you!

It takes alcohol to make vinegar. The bacteria eat it and produce the vinegar. The word vinegar actually means soure wine. Getting will just make the pectin make the liquid cloudy and lil the bacteria you’re trying to get to grow.

Yes you can simmons! put in your apple (chunks/cores peels and sugar) leave for 12 -15 days, in a average warm place 19 degrees C or better (dark place indoors UK). Then strain it. Mix every day in the first 2 weeks, better still try and keep the solid mass (that floats on top. I use a plastic zip bag with water in to weight it down) of apple, under the liquid as it ferments as this stops mould forming. (you are making cider with air at this time) at You will find that thin strands of white (tape? that is all I can call it. It’s like plumbers pate) will form on the top layer and bottom. That is the mother forming. Anything with a different colour or furry and stuff that looks like mould is not good and I would throw it out and start again.
I had a bit of green mould forming (on top) after I forgot to stirr it one day, in the mid of the first 2 weeks. but it has turned our good. I just scooped it off as it was not much and the mould will not grow without Oxygen and the acid kills it. (if you can get 5%)

[…] Right now I’m pretty excited to be making apple cider vinegar! It’s been sitting in a cupboard for almost two weeks now…it’s bubbling away and starting to get cloudy…stinkin’ like vinegar too. Basically it’s apples sitting in sugar water for a few weeks. I found this recipe on Pinterest. I fucking love Pinterest. make apple cider vinegar […]

Making your own apple cider vinegar is a lot of fun and very rewarding. I have made it a few times and this is what I have learned. Instead of chopping up apples, you can juice them and work with the juice. I don’t add any water, so it is pure apple juice and, in my opinion, it makes a better product for me. I add a couple of tablespoons of ACV with the mother from an unfiltered, unpasteurized vinegar – previous batch or from the supermarket. This gets things rolling in the right direction.

Some people use a mix of sweet and sour apples, but I use the sweeter apples to make a stronger ACV which I can then use for processing herbs, vegetables, etc.

Mine resulted in a little more acidic vinegar than one of the top brands sold in Australia. That means it will have a winder range of uses.

I sterilize the glass, wide mouthed container, before adding the juice. The wide mouth, allows more oxygen to enter the brew which is necessary for success. That’s one reason for using a breathable covering, fastened in place with a rubber band or such. That’s also why we stir it from time to time to spread the oxygen through the brew. Another reason for covering like this is to prevent vinegar flies from entering, resulting in little worms appearing in the liquid. They love it!! If using cheesecloth, double it so the flies don’t find any access points.

This is nothing like making fermented vegetables which need an anaerobic (absence of oxygen) environment and must have a good lid. The opposite is the case here, ACV needs PLENTY of oxygen to work successfully.

It is good to make it when the temperature is between 60 – 80 degrees F (16 – 26 degrees C). Below that, you may not have a usable product and above 80F, it may affect the forming of the mother.

You know the vinegar is ready or getting close, by the smell. It will smell strongly of vinegar. Taste it and see if it is strong enough for you. If you have a pH meter or pH paper, check the pH to confirm if it is as acidic as you need it. I aim for a pH of 5, to suit my purpose.

I checked today with an expert to confirm what I was doing was correct and he said, “Yes, that’s all you need. If you add the mother into the sweet juice, there is no need to add yeast, sugar or nutrients”.

If the apples have been chopped, I would leave them in the liquid, making sure they are submerged all the time and straining them out only once the vinegar has reached to stage mentioned above.

Adding water to the chopped apples, in my experience, makes a weaker vinegar than using 100% apple juice. Not that it isn’t going to be pleasant to use, but you may not reach pH 5 that way. It all depends on the intended use of the finished product.

I am trying out making ACV at home for the first time. My apple pieces won’t submerge in the water and the pieces floating on the surface have moulds growing on them. Don’t look good. Is it OK to continue the process even with that. will be so glad to get a reply.

Hi Jessie,
Sorry, my reply is not coming very promptly. Please check the troubleshooting section that follows the recipe – the apples need to be submerged at all times. The mould that you are describing does not sound ok if it formed on top of floating apple pieces.
Hope you nailed your second try.

“Some people use a mix of sweet and sour apples, but I use the sweeter apples to make a stronger ACV which I can then use for processing herbs, vegetables, etc.”

Is that true Julie and how does it provide a better ACV? Are you not just providing a higher alc average%? Before the vinegar stage happens?
Forgive me please. I’m new to this.
Does a Higher alc% at the first stage ( after 12-days-2 weeks. max) make things better at the end)

I was first told that a good mix of sweet and sour cooking apples, including crab and any small apples found at Autumn, are great, for ACV???

I have done this recipe three times. The first time worked perfectly and I had an excellent product with a huge amount of mother. But the next two attempts ended up with the product having black mold on it. Any suggestions why this might have happened???

Hi Greeny,
I can only assume the apples were not fully submerged – that’s when the black mould forms. Please read the troubleshooting section that follows the recipe – the apple pieces need to be fully submerged.
Hope this helps. Keep me posted. x

You will just promote mould. You have to keep the apple under the water. I use a zip bag with water in to submerge the apple on top, any apple exposed to air will oxidize and mould within a day. Keep it submerged.

You can Troy, but the smaller your apple pieces, the more chances that one tiny pieces will float to the surface and form mould (not the good kind of mould). Easier to keep them submerged if they are chunkier.

I live in Adams County, Pennsylvania, in the heart of apple country. Very near to location of the National Apple Harvest Festival, held at the South Mountain Fairgrounds, Arendtsville, Pa..Thousands and thousands of acres of apples – hundreds of varieties grown here. Many local fruit growers, as well as others, make their own cider, and some, their own vinegar, including me.

My contribution here is that until I went on the computer and found sites about making vinegar, I had never heard of making acv from apple parts, only as a byproduct of raw apple cider. I’m 77, and my grandparents, back in the 40’s, would make a 55 gallon oak barrel of cider. We all drank a lot of cider. We drank it as long as it remained sweet. It was always made late in the fall, so it stayed fresh for quite a while. When it started to get bitey, we would can enough in quart jars, to see us through until the next fall, and simply left the rest turn to vinegar naturally by removing the bung from the oak barrel. I think they covered the bung hole with a piece of burlap to keep the sour flies out.

My point is, I never heard of adding sugar, or water, or doing anything to the raw cider (also never heard of pasteurizing cider back then), and I don’t recall ever having a batch go bad. I had always thought that vinegar was just a natural result of left over cider doing it’s thing. Live and learn.

Problem today is, that unless you make your own cider, it’s very hard to buy raw cider to let turn to vinegar. It’s like bootleg whisky. If you want some, you have to know someone. Know what I mean?

In any event, you all need to pay a visit to the National Apple Harvest Festival, at Arendtsville, Adams County, Pa. It is always held during the first TWO FULL weekends in October. It’s one of the best old fashioned country festivals in existence. Free freshly pressed apple cider, apple butter, candied apples, steam engine operated shingle mill, antiques, crafts, continuous bluegrass and country bands playing, all kinds of scrapple, chicken barbeque, hot spiced cider, antique cars and farm machinery, free bus tours, hayrides, Pa. Dutch funnel cake, apple pancakes, and so much more.

You don’t have to DIY Shirley. You can always buy if that’s easier for you 🙂
Also, you don’t actually end up consuming the sugar. It’s what kick starts the process and what feeds the bacteria during the fermentation process, but hardly any traces left that you would actually consume. Hope this explains a little bit xx

Shirley, Because it’s almost free. It can give you the satisfaction of doing something interesting & useful because you are recycling the peels and cores, it’s not that messy, and it’s almost like a science experiment. It’s fun!

So, I stumbled upon this because I’m writing about using ACV as a facial toner (so good for the skin not to mention inexpensive). Now I think I’m going to try to make my own! I’ll make sure to link you in my post and especially if I do end up using the recipe myself. I love brewing kombucha and this seems just as easy! Thanks for all of the detail.

[…] Pregnancy brings with it a myriad of joys and wonders. But there are also some less than pleasant side-effects to deal with. Apple Cider Vinegar is a potent sidekick in helping with some of these side-effects in a way that’s safe for mommas-to-be! Bonus features: It’s cheap! If you have an abundance of apple cores, peels, and/or freshly made juice, you can make your own very easily using a recipe similar to this one! […]

Hi, I followed your instructions. I used filtered water and white processed sugar cause I ‘d no raw sugar. It’s the third day and everything is going fine. A lot of activity in the jar and lot of good white scum. Thanks for the article, effort and time. Greetings from Greece.

Thank you for teaching us how to make apple vinegar. After I kept the mixture for two weeks, I sieved it and kept on the yellowish in a separate jar and covered it to mature for a month or 6 weeks. The color is not orange like the one in this post and it is turbid not clear. The taste is still not sharp. Is this normal ? Already one week passed after the two weeks fermentation period. Thanks for any help.

Use any glass container you want, but use anything that you can to keep the fruit under the water surface, as this stops any bad mould forming. (I use a plastic food bag quarter full of water and it works for me,every time) Just make sure the apple is submerged, under the water and you will not get mould.

[…] isn’t worth it for me if I can buy the same thing plastic free. Easy simple things like apple cider vinegar are worth it. The tests that have failed for me have been toothpaste and solid shampoo and […]

hello. i have make my own acv and it has been about 1 and a half week now. but my acv tend to not have any bubbles after 4 to 5 days processing it and when i leave it not stir for about one day itll be like there is another liquid on it (just like when we leave a liquid of water and oil, but that liquid on top was white) and im using honey for the acv. i hope you can reply to this very soon.btw your article is superb 👍🏻

A metal strainer will corrode in time with the acid the vinegar forms. better to use a plastic zip-lock bag with some water in. As long as the apple is under water then no mould will grow.
If the strainer works and you have no mould the keep using it.

Hi- what varieties of apple do you use for your ACV? Does it matter? Can we use any variety of apple? How about Honeycrisp and Pink Lady? Please advise- I want to print out this for later use. Thank you and best regards- I’ve subscribed- Oh, and do you use ACV for household cleaning? Best regards, Olga

Use any variants from posh bought ones to crab apples that fall off the trees.
They all make perfect ACV. (remember you can freeze them and use them after)
It all works and you might find your perfect blend!

What Ed said above 🙂
I use ACV for a lot of things – I add a bit to my water and drink first thing in the morning. I wash my hair with it, instead of conditioner (1 part vinegar to 3 parts water), use it for cleaning yes.

Hi there
Ysteday I remove off the apples from myvfirst batch and leave it for 4to brew. It smells cider but I noticed that the liquid is a bit thik especially to the surface.is it something wrong?..also ice like to ask after to acv is ready , how you stop the fermentation proccess?

The thick part on the surface (and possibly the bottom as well) is the mother. You need to keep that.
When you taste the ACV and the acidity is to your liking then it is ready. You then bottle it. Once all the sugars have been eaten by the good bacteria then the fermentation will stop.

Thanks to Chris for changing the recipe to show the amount of water used, This stops many users getting confused. it is just based on 1.5- 2 lts. Basically 1/4 apple to 3/4 water. plus 1 cup muscovado sugar (any sugar/honey per 1.5-2 lts)
and 1 cup ACV if you have it.
If not add a extra cup of sugar and watch the mother form (thin layer of white mould (fluff) on top). You will get Cider first and then it will turn to vinegar when the yeast and good bacteria takes hold. If the mould is black/blue on top and looks like mould on bread then it is spoilt and rotten. It should be a light white/gray fluff. like you have dropped a white circle of thin paper onto the top of the batch and it has not absorbed the water yet. You will know.
This is your mother so congratulations. You have made it.
Look after it and it will become thicker. Mine now has 4 distinct layers on top and below. I presumed they would become one and attach together but NO. Every batch I make produces a new layer. They do attract together but are separate in the top 1/4 inch. Obviously every batch is different and I have made 4 going on 5/6

Please share it with someone else

Cover with a cloth and make sure all the apple is under the water at the top, I use a plastic bag with a bit of water in placed on top to make them sink just under the water. This stops mould. You still have to stir every day , for a month. (depends where you live) but keeping the apple pieces under the water is SO IMPORTANT. It stops the mould. You can even miss 3-4 days stirring and it will be ok, but I do not recommend it at all, It needs the Oxygen to live so please do it every day for 4 weeks.

Is it possible to use too many apples? I followed the instructions (roughly 3/4 apples – maybe ended up with a little more – then fill with sugar water), but three weeks later, as I’m removing the apples, I’m finding I just have a cloudy, pale yellow liquid with no hint of a “mother” so far. The color is not the amber shade shown in the images, and there’s no “good white scum” that I can see. The scent isn’t really “sweet” – it’s slightly unpleasant and is not quite like vinegar or cider (but it may be too soon to judge that). Does that mean I haven’t reached the right stage yet and should not have removed the apples? Should I have used fewer apples and more sugar water? I was really hoping this would work. I’m currently living in Central America and am finding it hard to locate organic apple cider vinegar anywhere. I very much appreciate your help.

Hi Juneau,
The colour of your vinegar is influenced by the colour of the apples used and the type of sugar (white v dark). And the duration of the fermentation process is influenced by the ambient temperature – can be shorter in really hot environments, or slower/take longer in colder climates or winter.
I would leave it ferment longer, even if you removed the apples already.
Can you describe the taste? What do you mean by unpleasant?

Chris, you are so kind to reply! You’re right, the apples might be causing the light color, and the problem may be temperature. I’m in the highlands and we actually tend to have cooler temperatures (and no central heat). The smell just seemed “off” – can’t really describe it. Maybe it was mold. I was having a hard time distinguishing between good scum and bad mold, even with your great photo. I decided not to risk it and threw it out. Time to try, try again! Thanks for your help!!

Hello, I started a batch of store bought apple cider (unpasteurized and unfiltered) with acv 9/5/17. The batch smells great, but I didn’t stir everyday, and don’t have a mother on top. However, I do have chunks of stuff on the bottom…is that a mother?? I recently started another batch with apples like your recipe and will go with that. Thanks for your insight!!

I did not read all the posts but many of them. I want to make vinegar from freshly made, low spray apple cider. I thought a 5 gal. batch in a 5 gal beer pail with an air lock. I was not sure how much sugar for 5 gal. If making hard cider it can be 1 to 2 pounds per gallon?

You can leave it in some vinegar (not the one you will use) at room temperature (if it’s not too hot) or in the fridge if too hot outside. Every now and then you can add 1 TBSP of sugar to keep it well and fed, so it has something to ‘eat’. Maybe 1 TBSP every 2 weeks.
I always have an ACV brew on, so I never had to do this for ACV mother. But I have done this with kombucha mother and it was fine.

That’s what you took from this article George? Picked one sentence and chose to argue? I currently employ refugees from Syria, from what I’ve been told there’s more pressing matters they are faced with such as escaping the violence, securing stable employment, than making their own acv.
This is not a blog post about global access to food, nor global politics. I am well aware not everyone has access to food sources and that not everyone on this planet can secure adequate nutrition. I did my masters on the topic and worked for the UN for several years, I raise funds for charity to help feed homeless people. At the very least, I am aware. Please don’t cherry pick words or sentences and don’t say anything if you have nothing kind to say.

Hi
thanks to you.My ACV entered 3rd week, with white scum on it by following your recipe. As we have some what moderate season so what you recommend that at the end of this week, should I take out apple pieces from it and how long should I keep again in temperature like (33 degree in day and 26 in night)???

Hi Razia. Is the “white scum” mould? If so it has gone bad and you will have to start again.

If the apple pieces have been kept submerged and you have formed a mother on top then all is good and you can remove the apple and leave it covered with a cloth on for another 3-4 weeks. I am presuming you are near Saudi Arabia going off the time and temps posted. These are Ideal temps for making vinegar and it should be good now.
Let us know how you get on.

That sounds fine (there is a collection of picture just after step 9 in the instructions at the top that of this page showing the “good white scum” (small pic bottom right ) it was put in as a later update. I presume yours looks like that.

You can now strain out the apple pieces and leave the rest covered with a cloth for another 3-4 weeks. Keep trying it to get a taste you like. From this point a mother will start to form on the surface it will look like a thin white layer on top (and or bottom) and will become thicker over time. Keep this and put it in your next batch as it really speeds things up.

I’m in the second stage. Everything seems right. Starting to smell vinegary instead of fermented. However, no matter how carefully I stir, my mother sinks and another one forms. Are the mothers on the bottom dead? I understand they need oxygen. If they are dead, will it foul my vinegar?

Hi.. how long will the acv last once made? Would you put it back in the pantry or would it go in the fridge after it is in its now bottle?
Will it go noticeably bad after awhile?
I’m new to cooking and with a wack load of allergies I’m looking for safe ingredient items so looking forward to trying to make this.

OK. Someone mentioned about the mother forming on top / bottom and I must admit that I am a bit confused. The thin white mother (on top) always sinks to the bottom and adds to the other thin white layers from the top before. (they never join together when they sink?) but I have never had a problem with them being their?
They do not get stirred much so could be anaerobic but they all work so far.

You can now filter and start a new batch.
Filter your first batch into another open bottle/container and leave to stand (covered with a cloth ) for 3-4 week.
It should be done by then.
And your new batch should be half way THERE!!!

Just repeat that and what you have done, before and let us know if anything changes.
You will see the difference between the mother and mould if it happens.

Hens love them as it helps with nutrient intake. It will shine your hair and to be honest I would make a bath in it and use it that way.
It has so many good values.
Do remenber it is now acidic and is great in the soil if you garden.

Cannot think of a reason why not. You can try with a small batch and see how it goes. Maybe do the first step without ginger, add it in the final week for flavoring, then remove it. Make sure it’s submerged. And let me know how it goes. Curious!

I am over the moon to find this post. Living in Korea for many years has had me either simply going without ACV or hassling in online orders from the States and its not always available. Why I only thought of looking up recipe now? I must’ve thought it would require something I cannot acquire! But not so! Tomorrow I will start my brewing and keep you updated! 🙂

At once ! All things arranged… As per instructions I have cut apples and put them in a glass pot with brown sugar and water, on day 3 today I can see white bubbles all over it.. I think the process will go as decided.. let’s see.

Hi, Chris. I need your help. I made RCV; however, it turn into water, after using it, for about a month and a half, loosing its flavor and acidity. Can we figure out what could possible have happened? I followed carefully all the steps… – raw brown sugar, apples, water… Thanks! –Nelle.

Hi Nelle! That is odd, once something has fermented, it cannot ‘un-ferment’ back. Actually, the more you leave it, the more it ferments, faster at room temp and slower in the fridge. Especially with vinegar. I know that if you leave kombucha opened, it looses some of the sparkliness, but vinegar is different.
I am lost for an answer! Maybe someone else has an idea

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🍃Hi, I'm Chris! I create plant based recipes that are usually simple, quick, and require minimum equipment.🍃 I have a raw dessert business @rawbychris 🌱 And a vegan deli @littlerawdeli. 📖 Also wrote a cookbook NOURISHING NOODLES available on Amazon. 📖 Dabbling with a tiny (but super cool) YouTube channel.